The present invention relates generally to registers and, more particularly, to optical scanners for reading bar codes.
Conducting inventories of thousands of items contained in large warehouse-type stores has always been a labor-intensive and costly task. The process typically involves: closing a store to prevent the movement of items to be inventoried, sending a group of employees out to locate and count the items and, finally, tabulated the results of the inventory in a fixed record. With accurate inventory data, store managers can create a virtual map of their stores, locating all items there.
As with many processes involving people, errors are frequently made in conducting inventories. Items, for example, are sometimes entirely overlooked when moved from their usual storage places for special events and sales. Of course, it is not entirely unheard of for xe2x80x9ctyposxe2x80x9d to creep into inventory records. Thus, it has always been difficult to obtain accurate inventories of large stores more than once every few weeks, sometimes making it difficult to locate and map items being offered to the public for sale.
To avoid some of the problems inherent in conducting inventories, many retailers have taken to using hand-held, bar-code scanners to obtain identification data from labels positioned on items or positioned adjacent thereto. The data is obtained from the label with the push of a button and ultimately downloaded to a remote computer for processing. The known scanners lack features for determining where in the store the scanned item is encountered thereby making the generation of a virtual map of the contents of a store difficult to make.
In light of the problems associated with the known bar code scanners used for conducting storewide, item inventories, it is the principal object of the invention to provide an inventory locating device that will collect information from bar code labels and measure the distance of the labels away from a fixed reference point. Such a device permits the generation of a database describing the exact location of thousands of items in a retail, warehouse, or record archive environment.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an inventory locating device of the type described that is portable and easily carried by a user. The device is also easy to use, requiring minimal training and no special tools.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an inventory locating device for the purposes described which is lightweight in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and dependable in use.
Briefly, the inventory locating device in accordance with this invention achieves the intended objects by featuring an optical scanner for reading optically encoded information from an object. A decoder is coupled to the optical scanner for receiving and processing optically encoded information to generate a set of optical scanner transmission data. At least one measuring wheel of known circumference is positioned adjacent the optical scanner. The measuring wheel is capable of maintaining the optical scanner at a predetermined distance from the object as optically encoded information is being read. A shaft encoder is connected to the axle of the measuring wheel and generates a set of dimensional transmission data in response to rotational movement of the axle as the wheel is rolled along the object. A transmitter is coupled to the decoder and shaft encoder for receiving the set of optical scanner transmission data and the set of dimensional transmission data and for broadcasting the set of optical scanner transmission data and the set of dimensional transmission data via radio waves.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.